


Banshees Need to Be Cuddled

by LilyOrchard, MikailaT



Series: Anevay Darkflare - Horde Champion [15]
Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: A comical amount of Fluff, Affection, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Sylvanas deserves to be pampered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28379244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyOrchard/pseuds/LilyOrchard, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikailaT/pseuds/MikailaT
Summary: Sylvanas is held and doesn't know how to handle it.
Relationships: Sylvanas Windrunner/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Anevay Darkflare - Horde Champion [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939501
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	Banshees Need to Be Cuddled

The energy in Anevay and Sylvanas' quarters was relaxed. Anevay was reading the latest romance novel she'd become engrossed in while Sylvanas was pouring over reports and paperwork. Planning a covert offensive was rough work, and Sylvanas was determined to have it all completed within the year.

As Anevay read through the book, she came across the passage where one of the women was holding her lover in her arms, tenderly stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. It was a tender, intimate moment made all the more engrossing by the fact that her lover was perpetually stressed. Her gaze drifted over to Sylvanas. She watched as her lover was hunched over the stack of parchment in her lap. She knew her lover had been at this for quite some time and that the work she was doing earlier in the Royal Quarter was no less stressful. She could see the tension in Sylvanas' shoulders as they were bereft of her usual pauldrons. 

Anevay placed a marker on her book before putting it down on the bed table. Slowly, gracefully, she scooched over from her end of the lounge and made her way to Sylvanas. From beside her, she wrapped her arms around the Banshee Queen and pressed her lips affectionately against the side of her head. 

The quill in her hands halted as Sylvanas' attention was torn from her paperwork and towards the woman that was currently… enveloping her. "...Was there something you needed, Anevay?"

"Nothing, just…" Anevay sat beside her against the side of the couch and gently eased Sylvanas to lay down against her as she held her wife in her arms. On any normal day, their roles would have been reversed.

Sylvanas did not resist Anevay's pull, but she was nonetheless perplexed by the situation she found herself in. "What… what is this?" She asked, instinct promoting her to run a hand up Anevay's thigh. "Are you asking to…?"

"Nope," Anevay whispered as she tugged Sylvanas' hood down and threaded her fingers through her wife's hair, placing gentle and soft kisses on her head.

"...Okay." Sylvanas' eyes darted to and fro as she attempted to make sense of her current situation. Whenever Anevay initiated such a thing, they were either in bed resting or making love. This was distinctly neither of those things. The gentle and affectionate ministrations the Dark Lady was being surrounded by didn't seem to have an intended purpose or end goal. That confusion very nearly distracted her by how surprisingly… nice this felt.

Anevay ran her hand down Sylvanas' back as she nuzzled her hair. "I love you," she whispered. "You are so precious to me."

Those words caused a potent fluttering in Sylvanas' chest just then, the crimson glow behind her eyes suddenly shining through her cheeks. "T-Thank you," she murmured out for nestling a little closer to Anevay. She still wasn't sure what this was about, but she was starting to believe that she liked it.

Anevay continued to stroke her hair, smiling as she felt Sylvanas relax and cuddle closer to her. "There we go," she whispered against her ear. "Just relax." She kissed along her forehead as she gently scratched her shoulders.

Sylvanas let out a small shudder, the affectionate gestures starting to make her go lax against Anevay. The tension in her shoulders began to wane while the look of confusion on her face gave way to something akin to serenity. "...oh, Belore..." she whined.

"That's my girl," Anevay crooned as she gently rubbed Sylvanas' shoulders as she laid her head down on Anevay's chest. "You're so tense. Just relax and let me pamper you…"

"...Okay," Sylvanas choked out, almost despising herself for sounding so meek. Alas, she was too relaxed to really care. Whatever Anevay was doing felt too good.

Anevay smiled as Sylvanas melted in her arms, hearing the way her voice cracked and feeling satisfied. She suspected that Sylvanas would be touched by being cuddled like this.

"Such a beautiful thing you are," she purred, her fingers continuing to brush through her wife's hair.

A blissful sigh escaped Sylvanas' as she leaned into Anevay's touch. Despite how wonderfully soothing this was, the back of her mind was racing. Why was Anevay doing this? What purpose did it serve? Why did it make Sylvanas suddenly seem so small? More to the point, why didn't she mind that?

"I hope you know just how loved you are," Anevay cooed into her ear. "I hope you know how much I want you to be happy."

Sylvanas whined in response, suddenly clutching tightly onto Anevay. She likely looked to be a pitiful sight, but she didn't care. All that mattered was whatever her wife was doing and what she was saying. "...Don't stop."

"Every morning that I get to wake up beside you is a blessing. I will spend the rest of my life showing you how precious you are to me." Anevay wrapped her arms tightly around Sylvanas shoulders as she kissed her hair. She could very well fall asleep like this, with Sylvanas cuddled into her chest and clinging to her. "Every time I look at you, I want to hold you and kiss you and tell you that you're my everything."

"...Fuck," Sylvanas choked out, balling fistfuls of Anevay's tunic as she clung to her. She very nearly sobbed in her wife's arm. Was she truly so pathetic that kisses and kind words were able to unmake her? 

"Oh, it's okay," Anevay whispered. She brought her lips to Sylvanas' forehead and kissed her softly. "You're okay. I'll make sure of it."

Sylvanas whined softly, burying her face as deeply in Anevay's tunic as she could. She didn't want to risk the outside world seeing her like this. She just wanted to be surrounded by this soothing warmth. Buried in it. "What are you doing to me?"

"I'm cuddling you, like you do for me all the time," Anevay assured her. "I just wanted to hold you and pamper you."

“But… I…” She trailed off, finding her scattered thoughts unwilling to organize themselves into a single coherent sentence. Even if she could, her throat was so thick with emotions that she wasn’t confident that she would get the words out. She certainly couldn’t accomplish it without sounding even more pitiful. Her eyes started to burn slightly as the situation played on her body's memories. Memories of crying when she was this overwhelmed. “What… have I done to deserve… pampering?” she finally managed to inquire, hoping the fabric of Anevay’s top muffled out the cracking.

Anevay lifted her head from Sylvanas’ and arched a brow. “The fact that you’re my wife and I love you isn’t enough to deserve it?” she asked softly as her fingers drifted through her hair again.

Whatever response Sylvanas might have had died on her lips when she felt those fingers in her hair. She shuddered once more, the act reducing her to putty that melted against Anevay. Suddenly she found the prospect of protesting the need for this pampering to be too much work. Therefore, she resigned herself to relaxing and deeply inhaling her wife’s scent. She smelled so good. Her touch felt so good. Everything about Anevay was the closest thing to paradise she likely would ever feel in her undeath. 

Anevay felt her relax and smiled, kissing the top of Sylvanas’ head. “There we go,” she purred, her fingers gliding through her wife’s hair. Sylvanas’ hair was so dry and wiry most of the time, and Anevay quietly considered whether she should treat her sometime by running oil through it to restore some of the softness it had had in life. Would she even like that? She put that thought away for another time and instead nuzzled her, holding her tightly. Protectively.

Sylvanas managed to muster some will into the limp goop that became her body and return the embrace. At their angle, she was very nearly curled up in Anevay’s lap, though not quite. Perhaps it was the lingering vestiges of her ego that kept that from happening. Still, she was more than fine enough with their current arrangement. “You’re too good to me,” she whispered.  _ For me _ , she meant to say.

“That’s just silly. If anything I’ve dropped the ball and should have done this a long time ago,” Anevay cooed. She was right in more ways than one. It felt really good to hold Sylvanas like this. She was so comfortable and her wife fit against her so perfectly. Why hadn’t she done this a long time ago?

Sylvanas murmured out a noise vaguely akin to ‘I don’t know,’ before nuzzling deeper in the crook of Anevay’s neck. “It still feels like you should be compensated for this.” 

Anevay scoffed gently. “And what exactly are you compensated with when you pamper me?” she challenged. 

“The satisfaction that I am caring for something truly precious,” Sylvanas said without missing a beat despite the relaxed, borderline drowsy lilt in her voice.

“Well there we go, I think I’m good in that regard,” Anevay chuckled as her fingers drifted over Sylvanas’ ear.

A small gasp escaped the Dark Lady’s lips, her ear canting slightly into the touch. “Mmmm... Most would disagree,” she mumbled, finding her filter to be rather spent in her position.

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks,” Anevay said. “I’m your wife. I know better than they do.”

“...Do you?” Sylvanas asked, a sudden vulnerability in her voice. It was no secret, at least not to Anevay, that her wife didn’t exactly hold a high opinion of herself. There were days she was better at handling it than others. It would seem in this particular situation, with her barriers so thoroughly torn down, the less flattering parts of her mind were starting to show.

“Yes I do,” Anevay said confidently. “I married you, didn’t I? Do you think I did that for any reason other than the fact that I positively  _ adore  _ you?”

“No, of course not, I just…” Sylvanas tensed slightly, embarrassment washing over her like a bucket of ice water. “...Forgive me, Dalah’surfal,” she whispered, still hiding her face. “My mind appears to be elsewhere.”

“No, it’s alright,” Anevay cooed, nuzzling into Sylvanas’ hair. “C’mon. Tell me what’s got you so worried. You can talk to me.” She could feel the muscles in her wife’s back tense slightly. A sign of the discomfort that was likely plaguing her mind. 

A beat longer, the tension subsided. In its place, concession. “...I simply worry that… you are wasting these thoughtful gestures on one who is,” she paused to swallow down the thickness in her throat. “...who is undeserving.” 

Anevay sighed sympathetically and held Sylvanas more tightly to her. “Oh Sylvanas, you aren’t undeserving,” she whispered, closing her eyes and laying her head on her wife’s. “Why would you ever think that?”

At first, Sylvanas responded with a noncommittal noise before an affectionate squeeze from Anevay brought a more coherent thought out of her. “Because of… what I am? What I used to be? What about me has been… been ruined?” The words tasted foul on her own tongue. Almost immediately she wanted to take them back, but she couldn’t deny that was how she truly felt. She felt that Anevay’s affections and pampering should have gone to a soul that wasn’t ruined.

“You really think you’ve been ruined?” Anevay whispered as she squeezed tighter. “You really think you aren’t still the same loving, compassionate person you’ve always been?”

That squeeze brought another whimper out of the Banshee Queen, followed by a small nod. “...Sometimes,” she admitted, her eyes beginning to sting once more. 

“Oh Sylvanas…” Anevay cooed, reaching down to gently lift her head up by her chin so her wife would look at her. She felt a sliver of resistance against her efforts, but nowhere near enough that she had to force Sylvanas to cooperate. Soon red eyes met green and the Banshee Queen could see the certainty in the other woman’s eyes. The conviction. “You listen to me. You have always deserved every bit of affection I’ve ever given you. You deserve far more than that. You will always deserve the good things that come your way, and I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you get them. You are the most precious thing in the world to me, and I love you too much to let you think you don’t deserve that love.”

Sylvanas was at a loss for words yet again. Her mouth fell open slightly as Anevay sung her praises. It wasn’t uncommon for her wife to do such things, but the fact that Sylvanas was currently so raw with emotion was what made the effect more potent. A heartbeat of silence passed before another broken, tearless sob ripped from her throat.

“It’s okay,” Anevay whispered, stroking Sylvanas’ hair as she felt her wife come apart in her arms. “It’s alright. Just let everything out. I’m here for you.”

Sylvanas did as her wife asked, collapsing back into her embrace and crying. Truly crying. The likes of which she hadn’t done since the eve of Vereesa’s betrayal. For the first time in years, she allowed herself this moment. This single moment of weakness where she was allowed to just let go. She held onto Anevay as though she were all that kept her from drowning. She held this impossibly perfect woman as tightly as she could while she cried. 

Anevay’s heart broke when she felt Sylvanas start crying. She knew this was good for her, but she nonetheless felt guilty for putting her in this position to begin with. Still, she continued lavishing Sylvanas with affection and soft, whispered reassurances as she broke down in her arms. To continue asserting that she loved her in the hopes that maybe, someday, she would truly believe that she deserved it.

“It’s okay, darling,” Anevay crooned, her hands returning to rub those gentle, soothing circles in Sylvanas’ back. “You are wonderful and beautiful and you deserve every ounce of love I have to give you.” 

Sylvanas sniffled and whimpered some more before responding with a single word. A word so rich with emotion and need that she would likely hate herself for even speaking it once the moment had passed. “...Promise?”

Anevay smiled warmly and pressed a soft kiss to the top of Sylvanas’ head. “I promise. I was foolish enough to let you go once. I’m not doing it again.”

The crying continued, Sylvanas pulling Anevay as close as she could all the while. Thankfully she didn’t have to worry about staining her lover’s tunic with tears. There was no moisture to be found in her burning eyes, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t emotion to expel from her body. “Don’t let go,” she whispered almost inaudibly.  _ “Please.” _

“I never will,” Anevay whispered. “I’ll always be here to catch you, just like you’re always there for me. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Sylvanas said, her emotion thick voice making it come out something like a croak. It wasn’t the most dignified sounding declaration in the world, but Anevay couldn’t help but adore it. The Dark Lady felt a warm, tender kiss pressed against her temple, keeping her from dwelling on how unflattering she sounded. 

Anevay’s smile only widened as she squeezed her wife. She’d been right in her earlier assumption. Sylvanas  _ had  _ needed this. And judging from how she’d gone from surprise to breaking down in her arms, she’d needed it a lot.

* * *

An hour later, Sylvanas had fallen asleep against Anevay’s chest. Anevay continued to stroke her hair and kiss her, feeling far too comfortable to wake her and take her to bed. 

A soft knocking at the door was the only sound that cut through the haze of comfort and warmth, and Anevay only realized how close she’d been to dozing off herself when it happened. “It’s open,” she said, cautious not to let her own words rouse Sylvanas from slumber. 

The door opened and she saw Nathanos step through. “Darkflare, I have come to collect the reports that Syl-” His words trailed off as he took in the sight before him. Anevay and Sylvanas were laying on the lounge by the hearth, the Banshee Queen sleeping soundly against her wife’s chest. The very sight of something so intimate and compromising made him arch his brow. “...Am I intruding?”

“Not at all, just be quiet,” Anevay smiled. “The paperwork is mostly completed, but Sylvanas got distracted toward the end. The rest will be completed in the morning, I promise.”

The Ranger Lord eyed the end table closest to him where a large stack of parchment lay with the Dark Lady’s signature. There was a smaller stack next to it that was bereft of such marks. “Very well,” he said, stepping forward to collect the finished paperwork. “Then I shall allow my Queen to provide the finished reports at her earliest convenience.” 

“Thank you,” Anevay smiled as she continued stroking her wife’s hair. “This is my fault. I’ll make it up to the both of you.”

Nathanos narrowed his eyes at the both of them. “It is not often that someone can tear the Dark Lady away from her work,” he noted. “What did you coerce her with?” 

“Affection,” Anevay chuckled softly. “I started cuddling her and she got rather emotional over it.”

“You managed to distract her from her duties with… cuddling?” The lilt in Nathanos’ tone suggested doubt.

“Yes I did,” Anevay nodded. “I guess nobody’s held Sylvanas like this in a long time. She probably hadn’t been held like this even when she was alive.”

His thick brow furrowed in response. Anevay could tell that he was feeling perturbed by this information. 

“Don’t worry,” she added, hoping she actually sounded assuring. “Any and all moments of vulnerability stay behind these chamber doors.” 

Nathanos blinked, momentarily thrown by the Blood Elf’s response before scoffing. “And what makes you think I was worried about that?” 

“Because I know you, and I know you’re  _ always  _ concerned about Sylvanas’ wellbeing,” Anevay smirked. “You keep forgetting that you and I are friends as well. I know how you think, Nathanos.”

His lips pursed into a thin line at Anevay’s words. “You believe me so predictable, Darkflare?” 

Anevay smirked. “Aw, is the big bad Ranger Lord frightened at the prospect of being known?” she teased lightly before her expression sobered. “You don’t have to keep putting on a front, you know. I’m on your side, if you hadn’t noticed.” 

The cynical, suspicious leer in Nathanos’ eyes ebbed slightly, the tension in his shoulders falling somewhat. “...I understand that you believe that,” he conceded with a nod. “That doesn’t mean you still are incapable of causing Sylvanas harm.” 

Anevay’s brow furrowed. “...What? I would never do that. I love Sylvanas more than I’ve ever loved…  _ anything _ ,” she said, looking genuinely hurt by the suggestion that she could ever cause Sylvanas harm.

“And it’s clear that Sylvanas feels the same,” Nathanos said, gesturing to the Banshee Queen as she continued to sleep soundly. “It is unmistakably clear that you both make each other happy. That you both trust each other. But Sylvanas has loved and trusted before, and ever since becoming undead it has caused her nothing but betrayal and pain. I cannot simply dismiss the chance that you’ll do the same just because you insist. Not after all the evidence we’ve gathered so far.” It was after that declaration that he began to see the hurt in Anevay’s expression. “It’s… nothing personal, Darkflare. It’s just the fact of the situation. I am going to need more than your word if I’m to believe you truly aren’t going to cause Sylvanas harm. Indirectly or otherwise.”

Anevay pursed her lips as she held Sylvanas tighter. “...Because… the living have always betrayed her.”

Nathanos nodded. “Indeed.”

“You know, I didn’t ask to be the only one of us to survive,” Anevay said quietly. “Sylvanas made me retreat.”

“If she hadn’t given you that order, you would absolutely have been one of us,” Nathanos agreed. “It is for that reason that I did not object to this union immediately.”

“...Thanks. That’s a big vote of confidence, Nathanos. I appreciate it,” Anevay smiled slightly. “If I ever do anything to hurt Sylvanas the way Vereesa did, I’m certain you’ll be the first one to put an arrow in my throat.”

“Well it seems you do know me after all,” Nathanos said, a slight smirk showing behind his beard. 

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Anevay nodded. “Goodnight Nathanos. Have a good… whatever rest is for you these days.”

Nathanos nodded and hefted the paperwork under his arm. “Goodnight,” he said, turning to leave.

As the door closed behind him, Anevay sighed and slipped further down on the couch, laying propped against a pillow as she continued to cradle Sylvanas to her chest. 

Her back was going to hurt in the morning.

But it was worth it.


End file.
